


Read to Me

by undernightlight



Series: Gays in Space [4]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Culmets - Freeform, Cute, M/M, Sleepy time, SpaceBoos, fluffy spaceship, love on a starship, read to me, romantic space research paper, stressful day at work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 14:31:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13413276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undernightlight/pseuds/undernightlight
Summary: Hugh is tired and wants to fall asleep to the sound of Paul's voice.Fluff on the starship.





	Read to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Another one! I love this ship so much so I hope you enjoy this. It's not my best written but it is cute, which is very important! Enjoy :)
> 
> Prompt: Reading together. Gently running their fingers through the other's hair as they read to them in a soft voice. Silently listening to the other as their voice slowly falls into a natural rhythm and they are immersed in the story they're bringing to life.

Hugh's day had been tiring, dealing with cases all day. Nothing was serious, but it was constant, he barely managed a lunch break, and if then, he didn't manage it all, as he was back working on a sprained wrist. But now the day was over, and he had the luxury of not going back to an empty room, instead, a caring and prickly astromycologist waiting for him, and it made him smile.

But he was tired, ready to sleep against the walls of the corridor, or he could've just been left in the medbay and slept their, but that wouldn't help his posture.

After walking on autopilot to his room, he entered and was immediately hit with another wave of exhaustion. He was pulling of his jacket instantly, wiggling his arms free and throwing it across the room onto one of the chairs, and kicking his boots off at the door, placing them neatly next to Paul's, always to the left of his. He walked further into the room to see him partner sat on their bed, changed, drinking tea and reading from a PADD. He was looking over the rim of his mug when Hugh looked over, eyebrows up and confused, because all he saw at first was a white jacket fly across the room, and Hugh always took such care with his uniform.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked, setting the mug on his bedside table to his right and lowering his PADD. Hugh looked over and saw the concern on his partner's face; unevenly raised eyebrows and soft eyes that shined, lips slightly apart, though he'd lick them more often when he was worried. Hugh smiled, but it was small, lazy, tired.

"Nothing, just a long day is all." He padded his way over and leant down, capturing Paul's lips in a light kiss, which Paul would've been happy to continue, before Hugh pulled back. "I'm going to shower."

"You want me to get you any food?"

"It's fine, I grabbed something on the way back." He pulled fresh clothes from his draws and entered the bathroom. He got the water running hot before he stripped and stepped in, embracing the heat and lavishing in it. The hot water seemed to ease his aches quickly, turning the stiff pain into a mild throbbing in his muscles, and he just stood there, absorbing the peace and the warmth and the humidity and all that he could. But he washed quickly, wanted nothing more that to lay down in his bed, his love by his side and sleep for as long as he was able to, though he wished that could be for the next few months at least, but no luck there.

He climbed out, dried and changed, before emerging again into the main room. Paul had barely moved, but clearly he had as he sat with a fresh mug of tea and a glass of water on his nightstand. When Hugh emerged, he handed the glass over to him without a word and Hugh took in without a word, only a smile of acceptance as he gulped it down. Hugh set his clothes to the side, deciding to sort them out the next day before climbing onto the bed. He snatched up a pillow from where it usually rested, and placed it against Paul's thighs, before planting his head firmly. Paul was slightly startled, having to move his PADD out of the way to accommodate his partner's head, but he didn't mind. Out of the two of them, Paul would say Hugh was generally the more cuddly one, but he knew he could get very clingy at times, especially when he was tired, so he just rest a hand against Hugh's arm and rubbed his skin through the fabric of his shirt.

"Read to me," Hugh said with no warning, seemingly at random.

"Read to you? I'm reading some of my old reports I had to sent to Starfleet when I was still researching at the Academy." It wasn't anything exciting, and Hugh, no offence to Hugh, might not understand what he was on about, and sometimes, he didn't know himself, as it was written in such poor English.

"I don't care, I just want to hear your voice. It helps me relax."

Paul smiled down at his love and nodded his head, though he wasn't sure Hugh could see. He swiped back to an early report, which was written significantly better than most of his work since, and cleared his throat. He didn't read aloud often, only when it was for his own benefit, but for Hugh, he didn't mind.

"The mycelium network, as we predicted, spans further than our planet and our solar system, and does indeed extend throughout this galaxy, and possibly through others, though more research will be needed to gather evidence for a substantial thesis to be presented. Our experiments when working..."

He continued to read but Hugh wasn't necessarily listening to the words being spoken, focusing more on the rhythm and tone of his partners speech. He always sounded so confident when he spoke of his work, Hugh mentally noted, how his voice carried an air of superiority when he spoke of mushrooms and spores. Paul always avoided any form of public speaking when he could, but Hugh had been there when he made a speech at the Academy, as an Ensign, encouraging students to follow in his line of work, or to at least think outside of the norm, and Hugh had sat quietly at the back and recorded it for later. Paul had hated him for recording it, he picked at everything he could've done better, but Hugh just smiled, told him it was perfect, that he was perfect, and then he kissed him.

Hugh smiled at the random memory and Paul continued to read and make small circular motions against his bicep.

"...reacted in an expected manner, within the range of our predictions. However, our second sample did not respond at all, which lead to us investigating this fungus further, to which we discovered that the spores of this fungus resonated at a different frequency than our research had predicted. We therefore had to significantly alter our approach method, or each experiment would become, at least, tripily time consuming. To begin with, we devised a way of finding..."

Hugh could feel himself drifting, and Paul must've sensed this, as his voice became quieter as he began to fall into his regular speech pattern. Paul's hand roamed slightly before rested on Hugh's chest, feeling the rise and fall beneath his fingers, and feeling it even out at his partner fell into sleep. He stopped reading aloud when he knew Hugh was asleep, and he smiled so sweetly at the man he loved with all his heart, as he slept against his legs.


End file.
